“The team will welcome him with open arms,” said Rassie van der Dussen, when asked if the team will accept Quinton de Kock after he pulled out of the game between South Africa and West Indies. 

“The team is an open environment to anyone who is a member, and he didn’t even have to explain himself to us really because we accept everyone as they are and as they come,” explained van der Dussen.

He revealed that de Kock was apologetic for withdrawing himself from the game, but the team supported him, despite the timing being far from ideal. “Everyone understood why he took that decision, and we supported him even though the timing might not have been great.”

Van der Dussen said the manner in which the team handled de Kock’s withdrawal was testament to the environment that has been fostered in the team. “We don’t judge, we accept and expect everyone to make their own decisions and we respect that.” Van der Dussen continued, “It speaks volumes of where we are as a team and as a management.”

If de Kock is selected for the next game against Sri Lanka, van der Dussen is confident it will feel “like nothing ever happened.” The team will be pleased at “having our brother, our friend, and a world class player back.” 

To win against Sri Lanka, a confident subcontinent team, van der Dussen believes, “The key going forward for us is to trying to channel that energy and spirit we have in the team the way we did in the previous match. If we get close to executing what we can do, I’m really confident we’ll come out in the winning side.”